Value for Society

Helping clients thrive and communities prosper

That’s our Purpose. When clients and communities succeed, so do we. We recognize that we have both a direct and indirect impact on the economies of the communities and countries where we do business. We take this responsibility seriously and have focused our strategy on driving value for society by embedding community and social impact in How We Will Win. As a purpose-driven company – and as Canada’s largest corporation by market capitalization – we understand the important role that we play in addressing societal challenges.

Our priorities:

RBC's approach to kids and youth as a philanthropic focus area was formalized in 2013 under the $100 million/five year "Kids Pledge ".

By the end of 2016, RBC will have delivered on its RBC Kids Pledge, which improves the well-being of kids and youth, successfully honouring its $100 million commitment two years ahead of schedule. In June 2016, RBC announced a new commitment aimed at helping Canadian youth reach their potential as they transition to post-secondary education or employment opportunities.

The first RBC Race/Run for the kids took place in New York City in 2009, and since then the race events in New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Minnesota, Sydney, London, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Kuala Lumpur and Trinidad & Tobago have attracted more than 100,000 participants to date, and raised over $CAD 21.2 million for children’s charities around the world.

We launched the RBC Blue Water Project in 2007 for three reasons: so that we could have a positive environmental impact on a serious emerging issue relevant to our clients, engage employees and help us build our brand. RBC recognizes the importance of ecosystem services on our Insurance business. As we work to rehabilitate wetlands in high impact zones, we understand that insurance risk is mitigated for homeowners in flood plains.

RBC supports artists to help them bridge the gap from emerging to established careers across a range of art genres. More than 250 artists have received grants since the program’s inception. One of our objectives is to help artists achieve their goals of national recognition by providing more than financial support. We also provide mentorship programming help with access to a broader audience and support related to awards and prizes.